He almost forgot how many groups are and [M/N] almost wanted to blame them but truly it was himself for saving them. They couldn't really wait around and hunt due to infection nor could they stop at the nearest grocery store because they were all picked out. It had been years since [M/N] last tasted a lunchable too and he missed them terribly or a nice sandwich or a cold drink. They only had little water left and candy which Periwinkle had been stubborn about not handing it over until [M/N] reminded her that Santa was watching.

"Turn left on the road then keep on straight until we see the roadblock and then turn to the right to pass it," [M/N] listened to Childe as he drove, "The camp has been abandoned for two weeks. There should be a generator keeping the place going but they were infected everywhere."

"What kind?" Periwinkle chirps from her seat in the little booth, her eyes narrowed at the chess pieces. Kaveh had offered to teach her and she allowed him to think he was teaching her. She moved the black knight piece as she waited for her answer.

"The time of the report they said it was some wolf infected and some human ones." Childe speaks up as [M/N] parked and he stretched his arms above his head, he got up and Childe's eyes glanced at the other, "Are you sure you don't need help?"

"You're still wounded with still fresh stitches, Kaveh foot is still fucked up and Al-haitham is glaring at me to event hink and Periwinkle isn't allowed due to leaving the van and using my shotgun." [M/N] sighs as he pulls his shirt off and Childe's eyes watch from the rear view mirror. [M/N] opened one of the many closets on the RV and opened shirts that had been folded. He sniffed the shirt as Childe's eyes glided up and down his body. He had to admit there wasn't much to the imagination, he knew [M/N] was wanted for a reason and along with being able to fight off a lot of infected humans and creatures. His bounty was just as high as Childe's the last time he checked for many reasons, many dangerous reasons.

[M/N] fixed the shirt he got on, dusting it off as he grasped the pistol with six bullets left and grabbed the ax that hung on the coat hook.

"How long do you think you'll be in there?" Periwinkle asked as she got Kaveh's second knight and giggled when the blonde looked perplexed on losing the game between them.

"Maybe an hour, two." [M/N] answered as he gripped the door handle as he peeked out the window to nothing but trees and the hideout there hidden within the trees and bushes. "If I'm not back before sunset, drive towards north or northeast, I'm sure there's something better over there." Childe laughs a bit as he leans into the passenger seat. "Something to say?"

"You're wanted on every shelter-house, practically every castle wall and home. Dude, you're gonna make it out alive." Childe said smugly, "and I want to do you."

"There is a child here!" Kaveh snapped his neck around towards the ginger as Periwinkle snatched two of Kaveh's pieces while he wasn't looking. "Have some class!"

"Stop yelling." Al-haitham says, leaning on the wall while reading one of Periwinkle's books that they stole from an abandoned library.

"I know what sex is," Periwinkle huffed as she rolled her eyes a bit, "Two people go bow-chicka-wow-wow and bam! Baby. I'm not some stupid kid."

"I meant fight you, weapons, knives, fists," Childe explains as he looked at [M/n], lips forming an almost insane smile as the Fatui's lips curled more, "It would be the battle of a lifetime between me and you."

"Nah." Childe falters as he was rejected bluntly, "For one that would be messy, two I'm really not interested in fighting you really and three...I got better things to do."

With that, he opens and shuts the door before the ginger could start whining. [M/N] shakes his head as he begins walking towards the hideout, moving through the thick tree borders as he feels his gun in his pants, he throws the ax over the first barricade that was broken and pieces of wood poking out. It was torn to shreds thanks to the infected, he lifts himself carefully and jumps down to see a cement barricade and turned over trucks circling the shelter. He does the same for those and jumps down on the turned over truck. [M/N]'s boats hit the grass and picked up his ax, sniffing a bit to make sure there weren't any scents.

As the infected population grew so did the ways of picking up if they were near, some smelled like gas and oil, usually wolves, dogs, cats, lions and other animals. The rotting flesh and sulfur ones for infected humans and dead fish and lime for snakes or nearly hard to find fish infected that made their way up land years ago. That day was not good and their clothes smelled like fish infected for weeks.

But today they were good.

[M/N] scans the area and ducked down to his knees as he moved before seeing the flapping tents, some fallen and others barely holding together by some hooks into the ground. He stared before slowly moving in and out of them carefully, some of them had remains of the Fatui soldiers in them, some had broken and unuseable equipment too. For the next fifty minutes before leaving the last tent, he added the leftover bullets into his gun before pocketing it in his jeans.

He glanced around before heading further into the camp, noticing the deceased bodies from the massacure between them and whoever or whatever. They made camp at the ranger center, he can see the Fatui flags hung over the top of the broken building. His eyes watched the equipment outside the building, probably being updated until the massacre too. Besides some bodies laying outside, some limbs here and there along with broken doors, it seems good and probably good supplies too.

Slowly and quietly he enters, sniffing here and there but nothing besides the smell of dust and old blood. It wasn't too bad in the broken shelter either, just a few dead bodies from self-dying soldiers and one body without limbs attached in the corner.

If he could carefully maneuver the RV near the shelter then they could stay there for the night, make some doors and bam! House for at least two to three days.

[M/N] looked through different chests and bags for things and made mental notes about what he found as he moved around.

Toilet paper, bottle water, some soda cans, some canned vegetables, a few wipes....

There weren't a lot but these things could last them up for a few days and maybe two and a half weeks. He emptied out a backpack and pushed the goods into it carefully, sorting it to fit into the backpack before zipping it up. He slides the straps around his arms, groaning a bit as he stands up with the heavy bag.

CREAK

[M/N] hears a loud metallic squeak before snapped his head towards it, his eyes narrowed to see a door heading towards the basement. He could see a blinking red light faintly glowing. His eyes narrowed a bit as it kept flickering ominously downstairs as [M/N] grasped his ax tightly. He wanted to go back, he was content with what he had found on the upper level but something gnawed in him.

There could be nothing downstairs, maybe more dead bodies or worse where the infected beast could be slumbering..I'll be putting myself in danger if I do..

[M/N]'s rational voice coos into his ear as he glances to the exit, inching towards it before another voice pipes up.

There could be medicine down there or even more food..what if Periwinkle gets sick? Poisoned again? You know you need to look down there...stop stalling and lying to yourself..

[M/N] gives out a sharp sigh before shaking his head, he knew he had to at least look, maybe five minutes or fifty seconds at max. The red light kept blinking further down in the basement and his gloved hand moved on the wall before feeling the light switch and hoped it came on and flicked it.

The basement lights flickered on and off for a moment before dimming but came on. It was still a bit dark besides the dimmed lighting and red light glowing, slowly he held the metal railing as he took slow steps down the stairs.

Slowly his feet touched the floor as he saw the flickering getting brighter in the corner among the many radios, tv screens, desktops and a large map hanging on the wall with bright red lines circled around it. [M/N] crept over as he saw the red button, seeing a phone connected to it with four new messages. It seems the shelter had some power in it after all, so maybe they should stay over for a few days to use up the remaining power like good people should.

"Four New Messages." The machine spoke and [M/N] glanced weary at it before shrugging, not like the original owners of the shelter were going to answer them. He peeked at the controls before pressing the play button, a loud click and the first message began playing. "Message One,"

"Agent Ivana at location Liyue Main Library speaking; we've taken cover due to the infected hunting us in particular in the city. Older reports had claimed that the main city has been cleared for months but it seems that the infected are circling back. Your orders are to stay at the forest ranger center until further notice..."

[M/N] listened as he looked over the paperwork around before finding a much smaller map than the huge one hanging up in front of him. He opens it up to see it was marked the same as his eyes following each line closely of Liyue. There were red circles of Fatui camps, gold for Ningguang's dogs, bright green for the knightly wimps and neon purple for the Inazuma assholes docks. His eyes followed to the only black circle heading towards the Sumeru area but question marks around it.

"Message two,"

" Agent Boris at the Southern Fatui Camp near Sumeru's borders, we are making camp at the local hotel here. Some sort of Inn and we hooked up a generator for the place. I am checking in for us, we are currently looking at the situation between this mega-infected here. So far we've killed some bear infected and some regular infected at stage one. I will call again once we find the mega-infected or discover if it's a hoax or not."

"What the hell is mega-infected..? It better not be a dinosaur.." [M/N] rolled his eyes before moving on to the locked chests besides the equipment. He looked at the lock, grasping it and pulled a few times before letting go when the lock doesn't falter. [M/N] stood back up and grasped his ax, moving it into a better position before raising it high and down on the lock. It breaks with a loud clunk sound before opening it.

As his brain suspected, there was medical supplies there but not alot.

"Message Three," There was static and [M/N] pressed his ear closed a bit as he heard it, his eyes staring at the medicine as he looked over it. He would only take what he thought was needed.

"Agent Emil, I am calling in place of Agent Boris who has become immobilized by infection. We were sent to check on the mega-infected and have yet to be seen but instead discovered a hidden lab under..." There was muffled talk on the message as [M/N] placed the medical supplies in the bookbag carefully, "We have no idea what's in the place but there are Knight reports and something about a human head being able to stay alive? We do know it was the Deserter's doing."

"Huh?" [M/N] looked at the phone confused, how was it his fault?

The message ended as the final message started, he got up after shutting the chest and walked closer to the phone, leaning on the table to stare down at it.

"Message Four,"

It began differently than the other messages before it, there were muffled shouting and screaming in the background as the sound of moving feet. Then shuffling and the bangs of a gun going off then loud and beastly roars that made [M/N]'s ear ring.

There was panting on the phone before a raspy woman's voice spoke, "...I don't have a lot of time.." She sniffled on the line, "We found something so fucking disturbing...so..inhuman..God have mercy on us...the Knights..maybe made it...I don't fucking know...it...it has...has..." She gulps on the phone before sobbing as the roaring came closer and closer as [M/N] listened to it. "Body of an infected yet head of the deceased child of Crepus."

Deceased child..huh?

[M/N] hears a loud piercing scream on the phone as he moves backwards only to feel a sharp nudge, his eyes widened a bit as he felt the cool metal of it. A bow most likely. Slowly, he turned his head as a man was there, bow set and ready to release.

"Hiya handsome." The man behind his mask, covering the lower part of his face, greeted with his inhuman green eyes staring back at him. "Looks like we both came for the five finger discount."